June 7, 2011 - McAfee Coliseum - Oakland, CA

[Daddysgonnapay]

inner circle rocks!! no matter where you are in it! (But front is definately better!1

 

[chrisandronna]

Watching all u peeps from above and behind the stage in my raiders hat. Enjoy the show!

 

[chrisandronna]

Moon alice on stage now. Sounds like the grateful dead.

 

[shooboxx]

omg im exhausted - great show. GA line went well for me (was in B) - Nick you did good job thanks. Met some awesome folks !! Couple of hitches with some not-nice people but that is for another rant.

 

[BigMacPhisto]

1) Was wondering what the deal with the two GA lines were and what happened there. When I walked by line B, it looked much longer but also not as thick, so who knows. Most seemed to go over to line A coming off BART it seemed, so it might have just been better to go that route.

2) My girlfriend and I couldn't think of anything better to do, so after her job interview, we left downtown Oakland around 1:20 or so and went right in line.

3) Line went smoothly and security did a great job at preventing a crush. We ended up about 2/3 of the way back in the inner circle but almost dead center with Edge to our left and Bono to right. Could see everything perfectly so there was nothing to complain about and my girlfriend lucked out and had lots of women in front of her so she didn't ever have heads in her line of sight. Only gripe anyone could have with the inner circle would involve the sound mix being a bit more muddled since you're so close, but that's just whining.

4) Moonalice was so damn awful as expected. Perhaps the worst act that's ever opened for this band. I didn't hear a single person cheer when Bono mentioned them during the show.

5) Despite having insipid lyrics most of the time and writing a lot of generic rock, Kravitz gave a great performance that genuinely interested me and excited everybody that was in the stadium at the time.

6) Most fun I've ever had at a U2 show. Really understood the production by seeing it in person and you simply aren't a fan if you can complain about that set list.

7) That said, I'll probably just purchase two nosebleeds next time and show up at like 9 PM if I don't care about the opener. It was totally worth the wait to have such a great spot and all, but my body was banged up so bad by the end of it. I guess it's a good sign that you can be miles away in the upper deck seats at a U2 show and still have a hell of a time.

 

[roseundconcrete]

I like this very thorough set list courtesy of Mercury News

"Even Better Than the Real Thing"
"I Will Follow"
"Get On Your Boots"
"Magnificent"
"Mysterious Ways"
"Norwegian Wood"(partial)
"Elevation"
"Until the End of the World"
"Anthem" (partial)
"Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" (partial)
"Perfect Day" (partial)
"Happy Birthday"
"All I Want Is You"
"Stay" (Faraway, So Close!)
"Beautiful Day"
"Space Oddity" (partial)
"Pride (In the Name of Love)"
"Miss Sarajevo"
"Zooropa"
"City of Blinding Lights"
"Vertigo"
"I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight"
"Discothèque" (partial)
"Life During Wartime" (partial)
"Psycho Killer" (partial)
"Sunday Bloody Sunday"
"Scarlet"
"Walk On"
"You'll Never Walk Alone" (partial)
Encores
"One"
"Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"
"Where the Streets Have No Name"
"Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me"
"With or Without You"
"Moment of Surrender"

 

[bratty_cat]

GA line snafu so no rail but second row in front of Adam (all good). Moon Alice was awful, especially the rich guy's lead "singer" wife. Not sure which was worse, her voice or her ridiculous hair extensions. Lenny Kravitz rocked and he's super hot! Not as impressed with U2. Bono's voice sounded bad (got better at the end), he kept flubbing lyrics and during Out of Control tried to scat his way through (UGH). It was probably a location issue but the stadium sound from where I was was really bad, heard weird echoes at one point during the show. Get some rest boys. Hope Anaheim shows are better.

 

[The_One1932]

Don't know why everyone was hating on moon alice... they were decent, and their pedal steel player was friggin awesome. generic band, yes... but they could play.

 

[MrButton]

Bono's voice sounded bad (got better at the end), he kept flubbing lyrics and during Out of Control tried to scat his way through (UGH).

Hmmm. Don't know how he flubbed Out of Control, since they didn't do that song?? Frankly, Bono's voice sounded much better than I expected. It's not what it used to be, but it still works.

 

[KUEFC09U2]

Bono has had some of his best vocal moments this tour, didnt relise they played ooc last night

 

[BigMacPhisto]

Anybody take BART home? We started leaving the stadium once the band left the stage and it took us over a half hour to make it outside, around the corner of the Coliseum, up the hill and through the foot bridge. It was THAT crowded. BART thankfully added extra trains since most of us had missed our final trains (we needed a San Francisco train and arrived five minutes after the final one would have usually left).

 

[AnCatKatie]

I took BART and it was fucking horrendous to navigate through that mass of people...

On a happier note, that was an amazing concert (though Moonalice was the worst band I have ever heard, literally). I'm so happy to have seen the band basically in person now it makes me love them that much more...

I was closest to Adam, and he was both 1. very shiny (so much sparkly stuff!) and 2. seemed very happy, which was lovely. Larry actually smiled, too, I think, and Bono was hilarious. Overall it was great. I got to wave to everyone and they waved back, when they exited the stage...

 

[bratty_cat]

Hmmm. Don't know how he flubbed Out of Control, since they didn't do that song?? Frankly, Bono's voice sounded much better than I expected. It's not what it used to be, but it still works.

Oops, sleep deprived and at work. Meant "I Will Follow." He got better as the night went on. Maybe sick, maybe hung over. Saw him gargling a few times on stage.

 

[roseundconcrete]

After mentioning the G3 Summit: U2, Green Day & Metallica! I wondered if he was a bit under the weather since he missed a night out at some bars with the boys.

The Edge:
"We discussed the possibility of the three bands creating their own festival and touring...I remember at least the first hour."

Larry:
"What happened at that summit stays at that summit."

 

[bratty_cat]

After mentioning the G3 Summit: U2, Green Day & Metallica! I wondered if he was a bit under the weather since he missed a night out at some bars with the boys.

The Edge:
"We discussed the possibility of the three bands creating their own festival and touring...I remember at least the first hour."

Larry:
"What happened at that summit stays at that summit."

That was a fun anecdote!

 

[roseundconcrete]

That was a fun anecdote!

Yeah it was! I'm totally paraphrasing from my memory but that was the gist of what the Edge and Larry said.

From U2.com

'We love it here, Oakland, San Francisco, you’ve got a lot of everything. You guys invented the C21st, didn’t you?'

A beautiful night, tailgating parties in the parking lot, fine warm-up with Lenny Kravitz and the usual storming opening to the show with Real Thing, I Will Follow, 'Boots', Magnificent, Mysterious Ways.... before Bono takes time out to reflect a little on the unique local vibes.

'I think I understand why you think, and why you act differently,' he says. 'It’s music: music shaped the Bay Area and the Bay Area shaped the world.'

An already top-of-the-range decibel reading now goes completely off the scale. 'And the music is still potent,' he continues. 'The ideas are still coming. Don't know if you noticed, but there was a major summit over the Bridge last night, they're calling it the G3 Summit - U2, Greenday and Metallica. In bars.'

Adam and Bono, he reports, were not among the high-ranking delegates at the Summit but Edge is able to report back on the salient agenda items: 'We dealt with the important issues of the day, new touring concepts, we discussed the possibility of the three bands creating their own festival and touring... some great ideas discussed.'

But after the first hour, he concedes, his memory 'gets fuzzy'. Eager for more information, Bono turns to Larry - whose response is characteristically robust.

'What went on at that summit... stays at that summit.'

This response is universally acclaimed and Bono turns to the subject of Lou Reed, who is in the house tonight, at which point Larry breaks into a chorus of 'Perfect Day'... and Oakland goes ballistic.

'Lou, we love you man!' says Larry at the end of his moment on lead vocals, a moment no-one is going to forget.

Bono confirms that tonight 'the great man is walking amongst us' and soon we're into All I Want Is You. Later, during Vertigo, Lou is back in the set when Bono sings a snatch of 'Dirty Boulevard'. And, as in Seattle the other night, Bono also drops into David Bowie's Space Oddity in the outro to Beautiful Day - Commander Kelly brings greetings from space again.

'Imagine a man looking down on us from 200 miles up. Looking down at our beautiful crowded planet. What would he say to us? Commander Kelly?'

As Miss Sarajevo arrives, Bono adds, 'America, you don't have to put another man on the moon... Just bring us back to earth...'

We can't close without mention of Voicheck, who'd travelled almost as far as Commander Kelly to be with us tonight. He's flown from Poland, for 20 hours, and he comes onto the stage to receive the plaudits and be introduced to the band. He is a symbol of everyone.

'Thank you,' says Bono. 'For your love, your support...thank you for giving us a great life...'

 

[Edge_Orchestra]

GA line snafu so no rail but second row in front of Adam (all good). Moon Alice was awful, especially the rich guy's lead "singer" wife. Not sure which was worse, her voice or her ridiculous hair extensions. Lenny Kravitz rocked and he's super hot! Not as impressed with U2. Bono's voice sounded bad (got better at the end), he kept flubbing lyrics and during Out of Control tried to scat his way through (UGH). It was probably a location issue but the stadium sound from where I was was really bad, heard weird echoes at one point during the show. Get some rest boys. Hope Anaheim shows are better.

Which is amazing, because they didn't PLAY "Out Of Control" in Oakland.

 

[bratty_cat]

Which is amazing, because they didn't PLAY "Out Of Control" in Oakland.

Yes, I misspoke as acknowledged already
Meant "I Will Follow" but typed OOO.

 

[romi]

I forgot to add, it was having having that one-song dance party with wveryone before the show! People don't normally dance when I tell them to dance People don't normally listen to me. Period.

 

[canedge]

This article explains why Lou Reed was in Oakland at the U2 concert.

Lou Reed Recording With Metallica - Stereogum